New Beginnings
by Special Agent Baker
Summary: I decided to write a story with one of my own characters in the show. I was just having fun and playing around, so please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**NEW BEGINNINGS **

**A/N: I love watching NCIS LA so much that I had this idea: "What if I were on the show!" So I made up a character for myself and played around with it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.**

**CHAPTER 1**

It was a normal day like any other at the NCIS OSP (Office of Special Projects) unit in Los Angeles, California. Kensi and Deeks were having an argument about Kensi's love life; Sam was listening and throwing in a comment every now and again from the side lines, Hetty was enjoying a soothing cup of tea, Nell and Eric were having a debate on who had the newest cell phone apps, and Callen was nowhere to be found.

Hetty's soothing tea was rudely interrupted by a phone call from Director Leon Vance, who was attending to matters in Washington D.C.

"Ah Leon, impeccable timing, I was actually enjoying a soothing cup of tea." Hetty said in her usual intimidating, yet strangely calm voice.

"Sorry to bother you Hetty, but I have a dead marine for you guys over in L.A. to investigate." The Director replied.

"Oh Leon, does crime never take a vacation?" Hetty asked, searching for a better reason as to why he had phoned her in particular and not Eric.

"Well I'm afraid not," said Director Vance with a chuckle, "but before you ask, I called you because this particular case comes with a surprise."

xxxxx

Just as soon as Callen walked through the door, he heard the piercing whistle of the witty, yet occasionally annoying tech geek. Callen quickly put down his bags and headed upstairs.

"Ah, Mr Callen, tardy to the party again I see." Hetty said coming out of the dark corner un- seen.

"Sorry Hetty, I had a late night." Callen said, making his way towards the old, (yet quite nimble) ninja known only as Henrietta Lange. "It won't happen again."

"Yes, well, make sure it doesn't." Hetty said getting ready for her grand speech. "Now you are all here because there is a dead marine. He was found this morning on the beach." Hetty began pointing to Eric, who brought up the crime scene photos.

"It doesn't look like he was there to catch a wave." Came Deeks's witty comment, (at least he thought it was witty).

"As you can see, Lt. Graham Notch isn't getting a tan either." Hetty said, with a brief glare in Deeks's direction. "According to the medical report, he was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, but that was not the cause of death."

Everyone in the room, except the two tech junkies who had already read the report, looked at the short lady with confusion.

"What was the cause of death Hetty?" Sam eventually asked, seeing as they weren't going to get anywhere with looks of confusion plastered across their faces.

"The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head Mr Hanna." Hetty said as Nell pulled up a picture of the lieutenant's head with a bullet wound.

"But why shoot him if he's already been stabbed multiple times?" Kensi asked, manoeuvring her hands to resemble a knife going in and out of her own chest.

"Because…" Hetty began, but was rudely interrupted by Callen speaking up.

"Because it lessens the risk of him finding a witness and getting help before he dies."

"Thank you Mr Callen." Hetty said, giving him the 'look'.

"Sorry Hetty." Callen said, greatly treasuring his life.

"Anyway, it seems that this case might be linked to a serial killer and Director Vance wants us to investigate." Hetty said, getting ready to leave the room.

"Alright Eric, does lieutenant Notch have any next of kin?" Callen asked, immediately taking over where Hetty left off.

"Yeah, he has father, no mother," Eric began, bringing up a photo of his father.

"And a girlfriend." Nell threw in, just as Eric brought up her license photo.

"Dad's name is Michael Notch," Eric said, "And girlfriend's name is Mellissa Stacy." Nell added, giving her 10c worth.

"Alright, Deeks, Kensi, go to the lieutenant's house and see if you can find anything that might be important. Sam and I will go and see the dad and the girlfriend." Callen instructed.

They all started making their way downstairs and towards the door when Hetty stepped in front of the herd.

"I almost forgot, this case has an attachment." Hetty said, waving her finger indicating for someone to come over.

"This is Detective Lara Baker." Hetty said, introducing them to a tall, (about Kensi's height) beautiful woman with strawberry-blonde hair and hazel eyes. "She's been working at DCPD and has been following this case for approximately 5-6 years."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you all." Lara said, giving her hand.

"Nice to meet you too," Callen said, taking her hand with a confused look on his face. "Um, this is my team." Callen said, pointing towards them. "This is Special Agent Sam Hannah,"

"Hi," Sam said, taking Lara's hand, and giving it a good, strong shake. "This is Special Agent Kensi Blye,"

"Hi, you can call me Kensi," Kensi said, taking Lara's hand, "And this guy with his mouth wide open, gawking at you, is Detective Marty Deeks with LAPD." Callen said, slapping Deeks behind the head.

"Ow! Um, I'm Marty, but you can call me Deeks," Deeks said, eager to shake her hand.

"And I'm Agent G. Callen." Callen finished.

"Well, now that you know the team, you can start working with them." Hetty said, leaving the team to acquaint themselves.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, _**work**_ with us?" Callen asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Yes Mr Callen, I thought I made that quite clear." Hetty said, turning to face them again, "Detective Baker was on this case first, so you are all going to be working together. Enjoy!" Hetty added, turning on her heel and leaving.

"Alright, well I guess you're going to be working with us." Callen said looking after Hetty, now in a very bad mood. "Deeks, Kensi, take Lara with you to the lieutenant's house." Deeks and Kensi left with Lara in tow.

"G.?" Sam asked, looking at his partner with concern.

"Go so long, I'll meet you at the lieutenant's father's house." Callen said, longing to confront Hetty about their new 'team member'. "I need to have a word with Hetty." Callen started to make his way to Hetty's office when he was stopped by his partner's hand on his shoulder. "It's fine Sam, I just wanna ask Hetty a few questions." Callen said, sensing his friends concern.

"I was gonna say good luck G." Sam said giving his friend a reassuring look.

"Thanks," Callen said, "I'll see you there." He added on his way to Hetty.

Henrietta Lange was sitting at her desk, waiting for Callen to get closer and question her.

"Ah, Mr Callen, don't you have to question…" Hetty began, but was interrupted by a now furious Callen.

"Sam is on his way." Callen sat down in the arm chair he had used many times when having an important conversation with Hetty. "Why wasn't I informed earlier?"

Hetty looked up from her paperwork, sensing that Callen wasn't going to leave without a good enough answer. "Well, maybe the fact that I found out only moments before I summoned you all upstairs has something to do with it." Hetty could see that Callen, if possible was getting angrier by the second. "Anyway Mr Callen, what's done is done, and even you can't change that."

Callen started to calm himself a little before answering; otherwise when he walks out of here, he won't be coming back. "So basically, she just comes with the case, once we solve it, she leaves?" Callen asked, wondering if there was anything more behind this 'little surprise'.

"Well, I suppose," Hetty said, seeing that Callen was getting at something. "Unless you bond with her during the case, and decide to put her on the team."

Callen looked at Hetty, shocked at what she had just said. "So, wait, what?" Callen was so confused that he couldn't even string a decent sentence.

"I'm not kidding Mr Callen, if you think that Miss Baker would be a nice attachment to the team, then you may hire her." Hetty said, sounding 100%, utterly, seriously, honest.

"Ok, and if I don't want her on the team?" Callen asked, wondering if there was a catch.

"Then she goes back to D.C.," Hetty said, continuing with her paperwork, "and things go back to normal. The decision is entirely between you and your team."

Callen seemed as if he were glued to the spot. "Well Mr Callen, you better get going, unless you want your partner to ask the questions without you." Hetty said, looking up from her paperwork, as if wondering why Callen was still sitting in front of her.

Callen silently got up and made his way towards the door, letting everything sink in.

* * *

><p><strong>Leave a review and let me know what you think! <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**NCIS LA NEW BEGINNINGS FANFIC**

**A/N: Here is the next chapter! Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.**

**CHAPTER 2**

Deeks, Kensi and Lara had arrived at the lieutenant's house and had started snooping to see if LAPD had missed anything.

"Nice house for a lieutenant." Deeks said looking at the big, old-fashioned cottage.

"Why with men is it always, "bigger the house" or "faster the car" the better?" Kensi asked with a tinge of sarcasm.

"Oh Kensi, Kensi, Kensi," Deeks said in reply to her "amateur" question, "you see the bigger your house, or faster your car, the cooler you are, therefore the manlier you are."

"What? Oh I'll never understand the childishness of some men." Kensi said, completely put off.

"Whoa, wait, what do you mean 'some' men?" Deeks asked, wondering what she was getting at.

"I mean, _**some**_ guys, like you, can be really childish, while some guys like Callen and Sam are very responsible and act their age." Kensi said, as she examined a picture of the lieutenant and his girlfriend.

"Oh, so your saying that I'm childish and Callen and Sam are the responsible guys?" Deeks said, looking through the living room cabinets. "Whatever."

"Hey guys, come check this out!" Lara yelled from somewhere underneath them.

"That sounded like it came from under us." Deeks said, extremely confused.

"I'm in the basement!" Lara yelled from under them, "The door is in the master bedroom!"

"Did you know there was a basement?" Deeks asked as he and Kensi made their way to the basement door.

"No clue." Kensi replied.

They entered the master bedroom and saw a medium sized hole in the floor.

They made their way down the staircase very slowly, because their eyes were still adjusting to the light.

"Whoa, I don't see any yellow tape down here." Deeks said, as he reached the bottom of the staircase.

"Oh yeah, I don't think LAPD found this yet." Lara said, coming up to Deeks and Kensi.

"SO, how did _**you**_ find it?" Deeks asked, looking at Lara questioningly.

"Oh, easy," Lara said, as she started walking around again. "When I was walking around upstairs the floor sounded hollow, right about where we are now."

"Huh." Deeks said, wondering whether to be impressed or intimidated by Lara's answer.

"Shouldn't we tell LAPD about this?" Kensi asked, looking at Deeks.

"I don't…" Deeks began, but was interrupted.

"Whoa," Lara said as she pulled away a curtain that was over a piece of the wall. "Check. this. out."

"Whoa," Kensi said, coming to stand next to Lara.

"What is it?" Deeks asked bluntly.

"Da!" Kensi said, "It's…" but was interrupted.

"It's every piece of information on the serial killer that we've been tracking for the past 5-6 years." Lara said, running her fingers over the info. "It's all here."

"I'll go upstairs and call Callen," Kensi said, getting out her phone. "I knew it, obviously no signal." She made her way upstairs and as soon as she reached the top, she started dialling.

"So, is there any new info?" Deeks asked, coming to stand next to Lara.

"Mm, it's hard to tell," Lara said, reading some of the info. "I'm going to have to get our file to compare and check."

"Oh," Deeks said, "but that could take hours right?"

"Maybe, depending on how fast I can read." Lara said, looking at a few images of previous victims.

"Well, you know what they say," Deeks began, "two heads, or in this case, eyes are better than one." He added, slowly shifting closer to Lara's side.

"I think you mean two pairs." Lara said, not really noticing how close Deeks was.

"Well, yeah." Deeks was just about to make his move, when Callen and Kensi started making their way down the stairs.

"Hey." Lara said, going over to Callen, leaving a disappointed Deeks behind.

"Hey," Callen said in reply, "Nice work finding this place."

"Thanks." Lara said, blushing a little. She hated being the centre of attention.

"When Kensi called, Sam and I headed back to NCIS to grab the case files." Callen said, handing a file to Lara.

"Speaking of Sam," Deeks said, coming closer, "Where is he?"

"He's trying to calm down a few LAPD officers," Callen said, looking through one of the files, "They say they need to get down here, and decorate with pretty yellow ribbons as soon as possible."

"Yeah, well, we'll be sure to finish up here as fast as we can." Lara said, looking from Callen to the pages of the file.

"Don't worry," Callen began, "They have to let us use it as long as possible to get all the info." Callen started closing the file, when Kensi came downstairs.

"Hey," Kensi said, coming over to the three of them, "As soon as I got upstairs, my phone started ringing."

"Yeah, and?" Callen asked, wondering what she was getting at.

"And, it was Hetty; apparently she had Eric look up work buddies. She wants us to go and question them."

"Alright," Callen said sighing, "Deeks, you and Lara stay here and grab the extra info, if any. Kensi, Sam, and I will go question the lieutenant's colleagues."

"OK." Deeks said, reading a file over Lara's shoulder.

Callen handed Deeks the file he had just been reading, and added, "Oh and Deeks, Lara is working with us, so no funny stuff."

"Oh please Callen," Deeks said as he took the file from the older man, "do you really think I'd stoop to that level?"

Callen looked at Deeks, smirking all the while. "Don't answer that." Deeks added.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.

Chapter 3

Callen, Kensi, and Sam had just arrived at the naval base that the lieutenant worked at, and were making their way to the department that he worked in.

They stopped at the front desk, and started talking to the receptionist.

"Hi, I'm Special Agent G. Callen, and these are my team mates, Agent Sam Hannah and Agent Kensi Blye." Callen said to the receptionist, showing her his badge.

"Ah, you're the people from NCIS to investigate lieutenant Notch's murder." The young pretty lady said, "I'm Shannon McGill, I work the receptionist desk and I was a good friend of Graham's."

"We were wondering if we could find out what lieutenant Notch was working on, in case it was a reason for murder." Sam said, leaning against the receptionist's desk.

"Oh sure, come right this way." Shannon got up and was about to lead them to lieutenant Notch's office, when Kensi spoke up.

"Um, I'm feeling a little third wheel-ish, so I'm gonna stay here." Kensi was telling the truth about the whole third wheel thing, but she also wanted to snoop around.

"OK, your welcome to stay here, or take a look around, just as long as you don't go in any of the rooms, most of this stuff is top secret and I'm sure you know that it's easier to work without someone snooping around." Shannon said, turning to look at Kensi.

"Sure, I'll do that." Kensi waited for the three of them to step into the office and then she got down to business.

First she went down the hallway. It was normal seeing all the doors marked, "Personnel Only", or "Restricted Access" having grown up on a navy base herself.

A lot of the people she passed in the halls were friendly, but very much focused on the task at hand. Kensi didn't get a chance to talk to anybody about lieutenant Notch, because most of them were either in a hurry, or to busy with their own things.

Before Kensi knew it, she was back the front desk with nothing new to report.

As soon as she reached the front desk, Callen, Sam, and Shannon came out.

"Hey Wikipedia, got anything new in the index?" Callen asked as soon as he saw Kensi standing there.

Kensi couldn't help the smile that crept upon her face; she couldn't believe that Callen still remembered her new 'nickname'.

"No," Kensi said, coming over to the two guys, "nothing new in the index, because no one around here has time to talk."

"Oh well, I guess we have to go pick up Romeo and Juliet, before Deeks gets us all on bad terms with Lara." Callen said, putting his cell in his back pocket.

"Ooh, good idea." Kensi said, following behind Callen and Sam.

Lara and Deeks had been sitting on the floor flipping through files since ten o'clock this morning, it was now twelve o'clock and Lara had just finished reading the last page of the file she was holding.

"I'm finally done." Lara said, putting the file on the floor next to her.

"What, that's impossible." Deeks said, completely gobsmacked.

"Well, if you've spent the last five- six years, reading old and new files over and over, you'd know exactly what you've already read, and what is new info." Lara said, wiping her hand over her face.

"I guess you've got a point there." Deeks said feeling defeated.

"Do you need help with anything?" Lara asked with a sigh.

"Well, I could use some help with this file." Deeks replied, pushing his luck a little.

"Sure, just pass me the file, and I'll see if there is any new info." Lara said.

"Okay." Deeks replied, wondering how she was going to get through half a case file in less than thirty minutes.

Lara took the file from Deeks and quickly skimmed through the pages. After about five minutes, Lara put the file down and said, "Done."

Deeks gave her a look of utter confusion and surprise. "What do you mean 'done'?" Deeks began, "That was like five minutes!"

"I have a photographic memory, so I just compare the info I've read to this info mentally and I have my answer." Lara replied, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"And what is your answer?" Deeks asked.

"There is absolutely no new information." Lara replied, resting on her elbows.

"Oh," Deeks replied, dropping the subject, "but that would mean that this guy somehow got all this information from somewhere, wouldn't it?"

Lara was about to reply, when Callen walked down the stairs.

"Apparently lieutenant Notch was assigned to assist on this case about six months ago." Callen said, as soon as he made it down the stairs.

"So that would explain why he had all this info." Lara said, getting up to come and stand next to Callen.

"Exactly." Callen replied.

"So I guess we went through these files for nothing right?" Deeks asked, giving Callen the files.

"Not for nothing, unless you didn't find anything, then I guess it was for nothing." Callen plainly replied.

"Yeah, well, according to the walking, talking, computer chip over here," Deeks began, which got him a glair from Lara, "there is no new info."

"So basically it was for nothing." Deeks said, folding his arms.

"Pretty much." Callen replied sighing.

"Well then, I guess we can let LAPD get to work down here." Lara said, looking around the room one more time.

"Yeah, as long as they don't go crazy and lose any of the info." Callen said.

"Awesome. I'm starving, let's go eat." Deeks said, longing to leave the room.

"Sure, I guess we can take a lunch break." Callen said, turning to leave.

"Cool, I vote pizza!" Deeks said, heading for the front of the pack.

"Fine by me." Lara said, coming up the stairs behind Callen.

Sam and Kensi were standing at the top of the stair case as Deeks, Lara, and Callen were coming up.

"Hey guys, pizza break," Callen announced, as he came up the stairs. "Yes." Came the relieved replies of Sam and Kensi. "Oh, and Deeks is buying." Callen added, as he reached the door.

Deeks wasn't too impressed with this new announcement. "Not cool." He added, now in a bad mood.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.

Chapter 4

After the team had eaten lunch at their favourite pizzeria, they headed back to NCIS to see what work was to be done.

As soon as they were through the door, Hetty came up to them with an unimpressed look on her face.

"Where have you all been, when I said you should get to know each other, I didn't mean drop the case and go have lunch till who knows what time." Hetty was clearly very upset.

"Hetty, calm down" Callen began, knowing that all of the blame would be dropped on him, because he is the team leader. "I decided that we could use a little lunch break, so we went for pizza."

Hetty was still fuming, but a little less than before. "Mr Callen, you are in charge of the team, but I'm in charge of _**all **_of you, therefore I have higher authority, so what I say goes." Hetty said, saying what was on her mind.

"Sorry Hetty, we'll get back to the case straight away." Callen apologised, seeing that the petite woman obviously wasn't in a good mood.

"Good and I think Mr Beale and Ms Jones have a lead or two for you." Hetty said, walking to her office. After all, she had other things to deal with.

So the congregation moved upstairs to the Ops centre. What awaited them was an odd sight.

The two geeks were on the floor, with their heads under Eric's computer desk.

The group stood there, all trying to resist the urge to laugh hysterically.

"Did you guys lose something under there?" Callen said, while he gave Eric's foot a little kick, but what they heard next made the urge to laugh almost irresistible.

"Ow!" Came Eric's reply, accompanied by a loud bang. The two geeks emerged, Eric holding his head. "_**No**_, I was busy adjusting some wires and Nell was holding the flashlight for me."

"Uh huh," Callen replied, with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk spreading across his features. "What do you have for me Eric?"

Eric and Nell were now on their feet and heading towards the big screen. "Well, besides a _**concussion**_," Eric said, giving Callen an accusing glare, with which Callen replied with his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Nell and I were digging, and we found something interesting."

Lara was standing at the back of the pack, a little in awe at the technology in front of her.

"Well, we found some basic stuff, for example: he was a quarterback in high school, he joined the USMC at age 21, no siblings, served in Iraq twice, and his dad served as a Navy SEAL." By now Callen, along with the rest of the team weren't paying very much attention.

"Just skip to the important things Eric," Callen stated

"Right, well apparently lieutenant Notch was a part of Operation Dingo." Eric said, turning to face Callen.

"What is Operation Dingo?" Callen asked, a little confused.

"Well, Operation Dingo is…" Nell began, but was interrupted.

"Operation Dingo is a confidential Operation, but I was given permission from my superior to speak on the subject if the question was brought up." Lara said, moving to the front of the room.

"_**So**_, what is it?" Deeks asked again.

"Well, Operation Dingo is a top secret operation, involving the capture of our serial killer, whom we have decided to name 'Viper'. This Op. is extremely need to know, so any personnel on the case are extremely experienced and have to keep this case a secret from all friends or family. So far lieutenant Notch is the only person on the case who has actually been taken out by Viper." Lara said, now a little out of breath.

"So basically you're specifically on this case, because?" Callen asked, trying not to sound too rude.

"Mr Callen, Miss Baker is here because she was recommended as the best person for the job, because of her exceptional skills." Hetty said, coming in behind Callen.

"Hetty I didn't mean it like that," Callen began, knowing that Hetty was trying to scold him without making it too noticeable.

"I know very well what you meant, but we can talk about that later, right now we have bigger things to worry about." Hetty said, standing next to Callen.

"Miss Baker, Mr Deeks, go and get Miss Stacy and take her to the boat house. Mr Hannah, Ms Blye go and get Mr Notch and take him to the boat house as well. We need to keep all friends and family safe." Hetty gave the orders, because she knew exactly what had to be done. Deeks and Lara had already left and Sam and Kensi were just leaving when Hetty spoke to Callen. "Mr Callen, a word."

"Yes Hetty." Was Callen's reply.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.

Chapter 5

Lara and Deeks had just arrived at Mellissa Stacy's house and were getting out of the car.

"So, I don't mean to be naïve, but what is the boat house?" Lara asked Deeks, as they walked up to the house.

"Well the boathouse is kind of like NCIS's safe house and they question people there and hold suspects there." Deeks said, knocking on Mellissa's door.

"Oh, that's pretty cool I guess. Obviously the location is classified." Lara said, getting ready to take out her badge, because she saw Mellissa coming to the door.

"Pretty much." Deeks replied, just as the door opened.

Mellissa was a tall blond woman with blue eyes, and a nice smile. "Hello?" she said, as she opened the door.

"Hi ma'am, I'm Detective Marty Deeks, and this is Detective Lara Baker we're with NCIS, and we need to escort you to a safer location." Deeks said, as he and Lara presented their badges to Mellissa.

"Oh, OK, I'll just grab a few things." Mellissa replied, turning to get some of her belongings.

"Ma'am, we don't have time, you see you might be in serious danger here, we think that your boyfriends killer is probably looking for you." Deeks said, as he put his badge back in his back pocket.

"Oh, alright." And with that Mellissa locked the door and followed the two.

"Alright ma'am, if you'll just get in the car, then we can get out of here." Deeks said, opening the door for Mellissa.

Just as Mellissa was about to get in the car, Lara took one last look around the perimeter and saw a black van heading their way and the driver was way over the speed limit.

"Marty, Mellissa get down now!" Lara shouted, as she tried to push the two into a crouch.

Before anybody knew what was going on, there was a sound of squealing rubber and the loud clang of bullets hitting the car that was shielding the trio.

Just as the van was pulling away, the two detectives took out their guns and fired a few rounds at the assailants. Deeks took out his phone, hit the speed dial, and started talking to Eric. "Eric I need you to look up this license plate: Lima, Alpha, 1359 Charlie, Alpha. Thanks Eric." And with that, Deeks put his phone back in his pocket and went to help Lara with Miss Stacy.

"Are you alright Mellissa?" he heard Lara say to the frightened woman.

"I'm fine. Who were those men?" She asked as Deeks came up behind Lara.

"We don't know yet, but we're trying to find out. Right now though, we need to get you back to our safe house." Deeks said, as Lara helped Mellissa to her feet.

"OK." Mellissa said.

Lara helped Mellissa into the car and closed the door.

Lara was still a little shocked, so she didn't see Deeks next to her. When she turned, she bumped into Deeks' chest, with a thud.

"Sorry." Lara said, looking at Deeks with a tinge of pink slowly spreading across her face.

Deeks' only reply was, "I thought I told you to call me Deeks."

"Sorry." Lara said again. Deeks' hands were now on her arms, and they were leaning closer, when Deeks' phone started ringing.

The two quickly pulled away and Deeks checked the caller I.D. It read _**Callen**_.

"Hey Callen…" but Deeks wasn't able to finish, because Callen interrupted him with questions.

"Are you OK? Is anyone hurt? What happened?" Callen was extremely worried, but hiding it very well.

"We're OK, no one is hurt, and a bunch of maniacs tried to pull off a drive- by shooting. Anymore questions?" Deeks asked, as he was making his way to the driver's side of the car.

"Just get your butts down here." Was Callen's reply.

"Sure thing." Deeks replied as he got into the car.

With that they drove off with a 'holy' car.

As soon as they arrived at the boat house, Hetty was there to greet them with an unimpressed look on her face.

"Mr Deeks this damage will only come out of NCIS's account, if you brought everyone back in one piece." Hetty said, looking Deeks straight in the eyes with the _**stare**_.

"Well Hetty, it's my lucky day, thanks to Lara's fast reflexes, we are all in one piece." Deeks said and he couldn't help the smile that crept across his features, when he thought about how close he and Lara had been a few minutes before.

"Yes, well, I'll believe it when I see it." Hetty said and at that moment, Lara and Mellissa got out of the car. Lara came to stand next to Deeks and Sam who was standing in the doorway, escorted Mellissa inside.

"Well, it seems that you will be needing a new car Mr Deeks, so I'll make the arrangements."

With that the petite woman went inside. Deeks and Lara were just about to go inside, when Lara spoke up, "Oh, Detective Deeks, If you want to hit on a girl, no need to put her in the cross fire."

Deeks couldn't help the smile and the blush that spread across his face.

When everyone was inside and Mr Notch and Miss Stacy had exchanged a hug, everybody got down to business.

"Mellissa, you don't have anybody that would want you dead?" Callen asked, getting straight to the point.

"No, I have no knowledge of anybody that would want to hurt me." Mellissa replied.

"What about you sir?" Callen asked, now looking at Mr Notch.

"No." Mr Notch replied, with a deep voice.

Lara and Deeks were standing at the back of the room, because they were the last to come inside.

"_**So**_," Deeks said, not loud enough for unwelcome ears, but loud enough for Lara to hear. "What skills do you have?"

Lara came back to earth with a start and realising that Deeks had asked her a question, she replied, "Well, I can demonstrate one right now."

Deeks' eyebrows shot up suddenly and he shook himself mentally and said, "What skill would that be?"

"Well I have a gift to read body language and atmosphere so I can probably give you an accurate evaluation of everyone in the room." Lara replied, looking at Deeks with a mischievous grin.

"OK, I'll tell you if you're right." Deeks said, accepting the challenge.

Lara took a brief glance around the room, and then looked at Deeks with an expectant smile.

"_**Well**_," she eventually asked.

"_**Well**_, what?" came Deeks' reply.

"_**Well**_, aren't you gonna ask me what I think?" Lara asked.

"OK, but I get to pick the person that you tell me about." Deeks said, 'cause if Lara managed to surprise him, (since she had already done so twice) he didn't want to take his chances.

"Agreed." Came Lara's reply.

"So, tell me about Callen." Deeks finally decided, taking a brief pause with every word.

"Well, he seems like a nice guy, but troubled by his past. He doubts himself and is very protective over his team. He doesn't like showing any form of emotion, because it makes him feel weak and he doesn't like to open up to people either. Oh, and he, like other members of the team, is afraid if Hetty." Lara said, folding her arms across her chest.

Deeks was standing there with his eyes wide and his chin on the ground.

"Are you OK?" Lara said, putting a hand on his, seeing that he also had his arms crossed in front of his chest. Deeks suddenly came back to earth, when he realised that Lara's hand was touching his.

"Uh, yeah," Deeks said, blushing a little at the touch, _**pull yourself together man. Yes, no one has ever been able to do that to you before, but she is definitely off limits. **_Deeks thought to himself, "I was just surprised, because you were dead on."

Lara blushed a little and only realised how close they were when Hetty came over and cleared her throat with a 'hmm'.

Lara suddenly turned a deep red, Deeks accompanying her and quickly went back to her place next to Deeks, (but not too close).

"The team is waiting for you back at Ops." Was all Hetty said. This surprised Deeks a little.

The two quickly made their way to the door to head back to Ops, when Deeks turned to Hetty and said, "Uh, Hetty I don't have a…" but Hetty stopped him by saying, "There is a brand new car outside Mr Deeks." To which Deeks replied with a, "Thanks Hetty."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.

Chapter 6

Once the two walked into the bullpen, they were greeted by a question from Callen. "So, did you two enjoy your little talk in the corner?"

To which both replied with red faces and a nervous smirk.

"But right now we've got work to do, so you two can go and flirt later. We have to keep lieutenant Notch's family safe at all costs, and catch Viper."

The team headed upstairs, to see if Eric had matched the license plate.

Eric and Nell were sitting at their desks, Eric with a look of boredom and Nell was busy reading a book.

"What do you have for me Eric?" Callen asked, giving Eric a heart attack for the second time today.

"We managed to match the license plate and find the car." Eric stated, still trying to recover from the sudden fright Callen had given him.

"Great, who does the car belong to?" Callen asked, wondering why Eric hadn't gotten to the point already.

"Well the car belongs to an Aimee Sanchez and was reported stolen yesterday afternoon." Eric said, bringing up info on Miss Sanchez and an image of her car.

"Deeks, Lara is that the car you guys saw?" Callen asked, turning to Lara and Deeks.

"Mm," Deeks began, looking at the car. He was just about to answer, when Lara suddenly answered,

"Yup, that's the car." Callen was a little taken aback at how quickly Lara had answered the question.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Callen asked, because he wanted to make sure that they weren't hunting the wrong guys.

"Callen, she is obviously going to say yes, because she told Kensi and me that she has a photographic memory." Deeks replied for Lara.

"OK, I was just checking." Callen said, turning back to Eric and the big screen.

"So, Eric, do we know who took it?" Callen asked, remembering that they still needed to find out who stole the car.

"Well, that's the bad news." Eric replied.

"Why is that the bad news?" Callen asked.

"Well, because whoever stole the car, didn't leave any prints, shells, nothing."

"So basically we're dealing with experts?" Sam asked, seeing as he hadn't said anything for a while, he thought he might chip in.

"Pretty much." Was Eric's reply.

The congregation stood in silence for some time, until Hetty came in and broke the silence.

"Well, I don't think standing around is going to get us anywhere."

"Hetty, what do you suggest we do, we have no leads, nothing to go on, and we don't have any connections to the serial killer, who are in any condition to breathe, let alone talk." Callen said, trying not to sound too angry, he was just frustrated.

"Well Mr Callen, the only thing I can propose is a stake out." Hetty said, coming to the centre of the room. "I think you should take Mr Notch and Miss Stacy home and watch the house from various angles." Hetty added, knowing that what Callen needed was for someone to take some weight off of his shoulders.

"Alright Hetty. I guess we should start making a plan." Callen suggested.

"That would be a good idea Mr Callen, Hetty said as she left the room.

So everyone gathered around the table in the centre of the room and started spitting out ideas as to how they should go about the stake out.

After about an hour of planning and once all the arguments had been tested, everyone checked their positions once more.

"Alright, so Deeks and Lara will take the north and east perimeter and Sam and Kensi will take the south and west perimeter. Any questions?" Callen asked, he didn't want anything to go wrong.

"No." Came everyone's reply, except for Deeks of course. "I have one question, are we aloud to take food with in this stake out?"

Everybody burst out laughing, because they were all pretty tired and stressed.

"Yeah Deeks, you can take food with." Callen said after everyone had stopped laughing.

"Yes, because I'm starving." Came Deeks' reply.

"Cool. Any other questions, _**involving**_the stake out?" Callen asked, they couldn't wait all around all night answering useless questions.

Silence, followed by Callen saying, "Good, well let's go inform Hetty, Mr Notch, and the girlfriend."

The group headed out the door, and down the stairs; Callen headed towards Hetty's office and the rest of the group headed to get their gear.

"Hey Hetty, I just need you to approve the…" Callen began, but was interrupted.

"I've already given you the go ahead, and a SWAT team will be standing by if the need for heavy fire power arises." Hetty said, as she signed some paper work that was in front of her.

"Thank you Hetty." Callen said, with a smirk; Hetty always seemed to come through for him and his team.

Callen was about to walk to his team, when Hetty called him back. "Mr Callen, protect your team, and go kick some butt." Hetty said with a little grin.

"Thanks Hetty." Callen replied.

When Callen came out from Hetty's office, what he saw surprised him. His team was geared up and ready to go, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that his team were having fun, sitting on various desks, laughing, and having fun. _**Maybe she will be a good addition to the team.**_ Callen thought, as he watched his team enjoying themselves again.

"Yo G, are we ready to go?" Sam asked, as he came over to his friend, who seemed in a bit of a daydream.

"Huh, What?" Callen began, suddenly coming out of his dream. "Yeah, we're ready to go; I just need to grab my gear."

Sam stopped his friend, before he went to get his stuff. "G, don't worry, every thing is going to be fine. You'll be in the house, and we'll have your back outside." Sam said, trying to reassure his buddy.

"I'm fine Sam. I know everything is going to work out fine, after all, I have the best team in L.A." Callen answered, seeing his friends concern.

They gave each other a high five and as soon as Callen had his gear, they headed out.


	7. Chapter 7

**New Beginnings**

**A/N: I fixed this chapter up, because I realized that there was a little age mistake!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.**

**chapter 7**

The team had arrived at Mr Notch's house and were in their positions. Lara and Deeks were on the north and east perimeter and Sam and Kensi were checking the south and west perimeters.

It was Deeks who broke the silence in the car, "Mm, Mc Donald's is the best comfort food for a stake out." Lara had to try and stop herself from laughing at Deeks' comment.

"Mm, do you want a bite?" Deeks asked, his mouth full of food.

"As tempting as that sounds," Lara said, as she took her binoculars away from her eyes, "I think I'll pass on your offer."

Deeks shrugged, and put the empty wrapper in the bag. Deeks knew he needed to make small talk, but as soon as he was about to start the conversation, he heard Kensi's voice in his ear wig. "How are thing going on your side," to which he answered with a, "Everything is good here, we haven't seen any one yet. How are things going on your side?"

Kensi replied to his question saying, "We haven't seen any ne yet either, but we still have to keep our eyes open." And with that Kensi was gone.

"So, Lara," Deeks started, determined to start a conversation with her. "If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

Lara seemed a little surprised by this question, but tried her best not to show it. "Oh, well I was born in 1985, so that would make me 27 years of age."

Deeks was a little surprised, she looked much younger. "How old are _**you**_?" Lara asked.

"Deeks didn't know whether to answer truthfully or not. "Oh, I'm 32." He decided to tell the truth.

"Oh, when is your birthday?" Lara asked, curious to find out as much about him as possible.

"Oh, my birthday is on the 8th of January. And yours?" Deeks asked, two could play the twenty questions game.

"Oh, my birthday is on the 29th of October." Lara replied, as she looked through her binoculars again.

"Oh, that's cool." Deeks replied, as he tried to think of something else to ask her. "So, uh, are you seeing any one?" He decided to settle on the most obvious question.

"Nope." Was Lara's plain reply. This answer gave Deeks a little smile and a blush. "What about you?" Lara asked, as she sat back in her seat and turned to look at Deeks.

"No, I'm single at the moment." was Deeks' reply.

Deeks was about to make his move, when he was interrupted for the second time that day, but this time by gunshots.

Lara and Deeks shared a brief glance, and then Deeks yelled into his com piece as he got out of the car, "SHOTS FIRED! SHOTS FIRED!"

Sam and Kensi headed round to the back of the house and Lara and Deeks to the front door. Deeks counted down with his fingers, 3… 2… 1.

At that moment, Deeks kicked in the door and he and Lara rushed inside.

There was no one in the hall, but when they went through to the living room, what they saw shocked them.

There was a blood trail leading to another room and two bodies on the floor.

"Deeks, a blood trail." Lara whispered, pointing to the trail.

Deeks nodded in reply and whispered back, "Bodies."

Lara went over to the two bodies, and checked their pulses. "Nope their gone." Lara said, when she was standing next to Deeks.

"Yeah, Kensi, we have two bodies and a blood trail, we're about to follow it now." Deeks said into his ear piece, with a reply from Kensi.

"OK, we're still checking the perimeter, but we can't see how they got in."

"OK, keep looking." Deeks said.

They reached the door and with guns raised, slowly went through the door.

Lara went in first, with Deeks approx. 2m behind her.

Lara went in and turned to her left, as soon as her back was turned, someone grabbed her from behind.

At that moment before a hand went over her mouth, Lara screamed, as loud as she could, but unfortunately, it was only audible for Deeks.

"Lara!" Deeks yelled, as he stormed into the pitch black room.

"Lara?" he suddenly heard someone say. _**Wait a minute, that sounded like…**_

"Callen?" Deeks asked.

"Yeah it's me Deeks," Callen said as he let go of Lara. "Sorry Lara, I couldn't take any chances."

"That's OK Agent Callen, you didn't hurt me, you just startled me." Was Lara's reply.

"Good, where are the others?" Callen asked.

"Sam and Kensi are checking the perimeter." Deeks replied.

"Agent Callen," Lara began with a worried look, "is that…?"

"No, that's Mr Notch's," Callen said giving Lara a reassuring look. "He got hit in the cross fire."

Lara went over to Mr Notch, to make sure that he was still breathing. Mellissa was sitting next to Mr Notch, and being a nurse, she was able to slow the bleeding.

"What happened?" Deeks asked Callen.

"I had my back to the door and when I heard Mellissa scream, I turned around and saw a guy standing by the door. I took out my gun, but he shot Mr Notch first. As soon as the shot was fired, I shot him, then his buddy popped up and I gave him a present too." Callen explained, running over the scene in his head for the third time in approx. 10 minutes.

"Then you dragged Mr Notch in here in case there were anymore guys." Deeks said for Callen, seeing that he was still a little shaken.

"How many guys were there?" Deeks asked, breaking the silence.

"I only saw the two that I shot, but there might be more inside the house." Callen replied, wiping a hand over his face.

"OK, you stay here till Sam and Kensi get here. Lara and I will check the rest of the house." Deeks said, taking his gun from his holster.

"Cool, just be careful." Callen said, going over to Lara.

"It looks like Mellissa has everything under control, but we'll need an ambulance as soon as possible." Lara said, coming over to Callen.

"OK." Callen said to Lara.

"Hey, let's go check the rest of the house." Deeks said, coming up behind Lara.

"Sure." Lara said, taking her gun out of her holster, just as Deeks had done a few minutes ago.

So the two left an armed Callen with Mellissa and Mr Notch.

Lara and Deeks made their way down the hallway, clearing each room in turn, until they reached the bottom of the stairs.

Once at the bottom, they were about to go up, when Callen called from the other room.

"I'll go check it out." Lara said as she turned around to head back to Callen. "Stay." Were Lara's last words, as she left, to make sure that everything was OK on Callen's side.

Deeks was standing waiting for Lara to come back. _**What's taking so long?**_ Deeks wondered. He was starting to get antsy and an antsy Deeks is not a good thing.

"What the?" Deeks wondered as he saw a shadow move around upstairs. Deeks wasn't going to wait for Lara, so he decided to go upstairs.

He had just made it upstairs and was turning in a 180 degree circle from left to right. As soon as he was about to turn to his left, someone knocked him unconscious.

Lara had just returned from checking on Callen and was expecting Deeks to be waiting for her, but he wasn't.

"Ugh, Deeks." Lara said under her breath.

Lara went up slowly and when she made it to the top, she found an unconscious Deeks on the floor.

"Deeks, what happened?" Lara asked crouching beside Deeks.

"Ouch." Deeks groaned as Lara lifted his head.

"Are you OK?" Lara asked a little less harshly this time.

"Well," Deeks began, as he supported himself on his elbows. "I was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, when I saw…" Deeks suddenly froze.

Lara furrowed her brow, wondering why Deeks had stopped talking.

"Lara, get down!" Deeks suddenly shouted as he discovered his voice again.

Lara gave him a questioning look, but before she could say anything, Deeks pulled her into his chest. The last thing Lara heard was Deeks firing his gun.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.

Chapter 8

Once Deeks had loosened his grip, Lara sat up and saw a dead body behind her.

"Deeks, you saved me." Lara said, as she looked at Deeks again; a huge smile spreading over her features.

"All in a days work." Deeks replied, putting his gun back on the ground.

Lara cupped Deeks' face in her hands, leaned over, and kissed him.

Deeks' eyebrows shot up, but he had to admit he was waiting for this to happen.

Lara pulled away just as Callen came up the stairs, gun raised.

"What happened, I heard gun shots." Callen said.

"Deeks saved me from another one of Viper's henchmen." Lara said as she helped Deeks up.

He looks, Russian, don't you think?" Callen asked as Lara came to stand next to him.

"Yeah, he does." Lara replied.

Lara looked over to Callen and saw something on the back of his head.

"Agent Callen, Get down!" Lara yelled as she pushed Callen to the floor.

In that millisecond, as soon as Callen hit the ground, they heard something ricochet off the wall where Callen had been standing moments before.

Deeks had run to the wall as soon as Lara had said, 'Get down', and was trying to work out what kind of a gun that could've been.

Callen and Lara suddenly heard Deeks say, "Kensi, Sam, we have a sniper on the roof! I repeat, we have a sniper on the roof!"

Kensi and Sam, who were standing outside and heard both shots, waited for Deeks and as soon as they heard the warning of the sniper, Sam knew exactly where the trajectory would put the guy.

"Aright Deeks, Sam and I see him, we're on our way." Kensi replied, sharing a brief glance with Sam.

"Good." Deeks said putting his gun in his holster.

"Are you OK?" Lara asked Callen as they were still in an odd position.

"Yeah, I'm great, thanks." Callen replied looking at Lara with a thankful expression.

"Alright you two we have to get Mellissa and Mr Notch out of here and fast." Deeks said, as he offered Lara a hand.

"Thanks." Lara said, gladly taking Deeks' hand.

"What, you don't give _**me**_ a hand?" Callen asked, looking at Deeks with a questioning glare.

"Sorry, you're not my type and you're too big and too ugly." Deeks replied, giving Callen his hand any way.

"Gee, thanks." Callen said taking Deeks' hand.

"OK you two, break it up," Lara began, "we have lives to save."

"Oh, right." Deeks said.

So the three made their way down stairs, but what awaited them was surprising.

The SWAT team, the ambulance, and Sam and Kensi were waiting for them.

"What took you guys so long?" Sam asked, pointing to his watch.

"Do you want the long story or the short story?" Callen asked his partner.

"You can tell me back at the office." Sam replied.

So the serial killer turned out to be the sniper, a man named Roger Denny, who was a former Lieutenant himself. He got a shiny bracelet and everybody went home unhurt, except for a few bruises. But other than that, everything turned out great.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.

chapter 9

After everybody shared a coffee at NCIS, Deeks, Sam, Lara, and Kensi went home.

Callen hadn't gone home yet, because he wanted to talk to Hetty.

"Ah, Mr Callen, why haven't you gone home with the others?" Hetty asked as she looked up from her paper work to see Callen leaning against her office wall.

"Well Hetty, I came to talk to you about something." Callen said, sitting in the chair he had sat in a few hours earlier, but this time he was in a good mood.

"And what would that be Mr Callen?" Hetty asked, putting her pen in its respectful place.

"Well, earlier today you told me that if I thought Lara would be a good addition to the team, then I could have her." Callen began, trying to think of how to put his next question.

"And Mr Callen?" Hetty asked, she knew what he was going to say, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"I watched Lara today Hetty. She was able to make my team laugh, actually laugh. No one else has been able to do that since Dom was killed." Callen stated looking at Hetty. "I want to see my team like that all the time."

"Well Mr Callen, hopefully she won't just be here for a good laugh, she'll need to be able to work too." Hetty said, because Callen still hadn't said it.

"I'm cool with that. She saved mine and Deeks' lives Hetty." Callen said, giving the petite woman a serious look. "She is the kind of person I'd want to have my back Hetty."

"Well, in that case Mr Callen, I'll need you to take these papers to Miss Baker and I'll arrange for an extra desk to be brought in, ready for Monday morning." Hetty said, signing a few papers and giving them to Callen.

"Thank you Hetty." Callen said, taking the papers from Hetty and getting up from his seat.

"You're welcome Mr Callen." Hetty said with a smile. "Oh and Mr Callen," Hetty said, just as Callen was about to leave her office. "Miss Baker is staying at Marriot Hotel, room 121."

"Thanks Hetty." Callen said, this time successful in leaving.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS LA or any of its or Shane Brennan's characters or ideas, the only characters I own are my own characters.

_**Monday Morning**_

"Hey Marty come on and swing, hum, looks like you've got the world on a string!" Deeks sang as he walked through the doors of the OSP office with his sunglasses perched on his nose.

Suddenly Deeks collided with Sam just standing in the middle of the floor.

"Whoa, what's up, why is everyone just standing here speechless?" Deeks asked, taking his glasses off and clipping them onto his shirt.

"What does it look like?" Kensi asked, pointing to the extra desk in front of her.

"One, two, three… wait, why are there five desks?" Deeks asked.

At that moment, Callen walked over to his desk and put some paper work in the 'Done' pile as Deeks called it.

The three quickly rushed over to Callen with questioning glares.

Callen heard the footsteps and looked up.

"Can I help you with any thing?" Callen asked a little sarcastically.

"Yeah, G, maybe you can tell us why there five desks?" Sam asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Well, maybe because there are four agents and one liaison." Callen said standing up straight.

"Wait, G, I think your math is a little off, because there are _**three**_ agents." Sam said, showing Callen three fingers.

"_**No**_, the fourth agent is walking in the door right now." Callen said, pointing to the door.

At that moment, Lara walked through the door.

"Lara." Deeks said, as he went over to Lara.

"Lara?" were Sam and Kensi's answers.

"Yep, Lara is our new agent." Was what Callen said to the two confused friends.

"So, Agent Callen, where do I sit?" Lara asked, as she came over to the three with Deeks in tow.

"Welcome to the team." Kensi said, shaking Lara's hand.

"I have one thing to say." Sam said, raising his hands to get everyone's attention.

Everyone held their breath for a brief moment while Sam looked very serious.

Suddenly Sam broke out into a smile and said, "Welcome to the team!"

Everyone broke into smiles.

"Hey we should go and celebrate!" Deeks said, putting his hands in the air.

"Yeah." Everyone replied.

But, just as they were about to head through the door there came a piercing whistle from upstairs.

"Looks like celebration will have to wait, because we have a new case." Hetty said as she came up behind the group.

"As usual." Was Deeks' reply.

So the team headed upstairs with their new team member to start their next case.

THE END


End file.
